Excess moisture can build up in bathrooms fairly easily. With the heat and steam produced from baths and showers, humidity often reaches high levels. When that happens, your bathroom is at risk of developing mold, mold spores, and other bacteria that ultimately pose health risks for you and your family. Additionally, humidity can cause structural damage, such as peeling paint, rust, and warped doors.
Ventilation is essential in managing and combating excess humidity and moisture in bathrooms. Not only will it protect the integrity of your bathroom, preventing future costs and repairs, but it will also protect the health of yourself and your family.
Bathroom Exhaust Fans
Exhaust fans are air blowers that mechanically ventilate bathrooms, eliminating humidity and the presence of excess moisture. In addition to moisture, bathroom exhaust fans help to remove pollutants and allergens from the air, effectively improving the overall air quality of the room.
As another option, many bathrooms have centrifugal inline duct fans, that ventilate air through a duct sealed by a wall vent.
Finding the Right Bathroom Exhaust Fan
Exhaust fans come in many sizes. To find an appropriately sized duct fans for your bathroom, measure the volume of the room and then divide it by five. In addition to exhaust fans, bathrooms with higher ceilings may need additional ventilation. This is when an inline duct fan may be appropriate.
If you are easily irked by loud noises, be sure to check out your bathroom exhaust fan’s sone rating before purchase. A sone rating rates the level of sound ventilation systems and fans make. With sone ratings, a 4 is highest, and is considered extremely loud.
Things to Consider
If your bathroom is in its own enclosed space, then a separate exhaust fan should be installed within it. And whenever possible, place exhaust fan vents as close to the shower area as you can.